DEARBORN — Having lived and/or worked in Dearborn almost all of his life, Glenn O’Kray is hoping to serve the community by being elected to the Charter Revision Commission.

O’Kray is a retired director of financial aid and adjunct instructor at Henry Ford College, where he served for 45 years. 

He has also held leadership roles on the Dearborn Historical Commission, Museum Guild of Dearborn, Morley Area Residents Association, Arsenal Riverbend Research Group, Henry Ford Community College Administrators Association and the Henry Ford Community College Adjunct Faculty Organization. He is also a member and lector at Sacred Heart Church.

O’Kray has also edited or co-edited six books on Dearborn residents’ stories and Dearborn homes, co-edited the book Building America: Immigrant Stories of Hope and Hardship, is a moderator of the cable television show, Through the Arsenal Gates and is a member of the Committee to Promote the Better Understanding of Islam.

“I would like to make Dearborn an even better community by reconsidering the charter,” he said. “This document is like a constitution. It sets the rules under which the city will be governed. It is even more important than the people running for office. I want to make sure that the way the city is governed is appropriate.”

O’Kray also said his top priorities are preservation and taxes.

“I would like to focus on two issues, the preservation of the city’s historic neighborhoods and historic homes,” he said. “These are being torn down without any concern for the history of the house or the destruction of materials such as certain woods that are not even available on the market today. Their destruction is a waste of precious resources. I am also concerned about Dearborn’s taxes. The roots of high taxes can be found in the charter. I believe that the current charter’s minimum staffing level requirement is one of the causes of high taxes. This can be readily changed. I would like to believe that this document can make our community even better by giving us lower taxes and a greater respect for our history. It has the ability to make the city more responsive to the needs of our citizenry.”